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Brotherhood of Steel (West Coast)
Brotherhood of Steel (West Coast) The Brotherhood of Steel originated on the West Coast as an outgrowth of the United States military on the advent of the Great War. After becoming a quasi-religious organization dedicated to preventing technology from falling into the wrong hands, their conflict with the New California Republic led to the western chapter being almost completely wiped out. History In 2076, Captain Roger Maxson of the United States Army was assigned to monitor a West-Tek facility working on a government contract in California. On January 7, 2077, the facility was relocated to the Mariposa Military Base. Maxson was horrified to discover that the experiments being conducted by West-Tek involved using military prisoners as unwilling test subjects for the Forced Evolutionary Virus (FEV). As morale in the base collapsed and the unethical experiments turned chaotic, Maxson took charge, executed the scientists, and on October 20 declared his desertion from the United States military. All of the soldiers brought their families into the base for protection. On October 23, 2077, the Great War between the United States and China led to the virtual destruction of Earth. While the FEV was released into the wasteland, the soldiers and their families inside Mariposa survived the bombing. After checking to make sure there was no radiation making the outside unlivable, Maxson and his men ventured into the desert on October 25. By November 2077, the survivors of Maxson's group had reached Lost Hills, a government bunker on the outskirts of Bakersfield, CA. Using this as their new base, Maxson formed the Brotherhood of Steel to rebuild civilization at any cost and prevent humanity from using technology to cause further destruction. The Brotherhood used a satellite to contact former United States Army remnants in Appalachia to form a new chapter in West Virginia, but they were quickly destroyed by the Scorchbeasts inhabiting the area. In 2135, Roger Maxson died of cancer and was succeeded by his son, Roger Maxson II, as the new Elder. The Brotherhood continued to expand under his rule and assert their power to become one of the major factions of the West Coast. In 2155, the elderly Maxson II was killed by a poison arrow during an attack on a Viper encampment and was succeeded by his son, John Maxson. Head Paladin Rhombus launched a full scale campaign to hunt down the Vipers in revenge, which led to Brotherhood scouts encountering the Hub and opening trade relations with them. In 2161, the Brotherhood encountered a super mutant corpse and brought it back to Lost Hills for study. When Albert Cole visited shortly thereafter to seek membership, he was sent to the Glow to recover the records of rogue Sergeant Dennis Allen's ill-fated expedition there in an effort to get rid of him. Much to their surprise, Cole returned with the records and became the first outsider accepted into the Brotherhood of Steel in decades. Recognizing the super mutant as part of the Master's army, Cole informed the Brotherhood of the threat the Master provided. They provided aid to Cole's efforts to defeat the Master, destroying Mariposa Military Base and the FEV vats there. The Brotherhood established itself as the most technologically advanced civilization in the wasteland; while they elected to maintain their secrecy and refuse to share their technology with outsiders, they sent expeditions east to explore the rest of the North American continent. As the New California Republic expanded, the Lost Hills bunker was absorbed into the new state of Maxson. The bunker was allowed to remain as independent Brotherhood territory even as the region was developed around it. The refusal to recruit new members from outsiders or share technology led to the Brotherhood's power and influence rapidly dwindling in the NCR, especially as the Enclave emerged in 2242. The Chosen One was recruited by the Brotherhood to steal the Enclave's Vertibird schematics, a chain of events that would eventually lead to the Enclave's destruction on the West Coast. Relations between the NCR and Brotherhood deteriorated due to the Brotherhood's continued xenophobia and hoarding of pre-war technology, eventually dissolving into war. While the Brotherhood technologically outpaced the NCR, their low population and refusal to recruit from the outside caused the Brotherhood to be steadily ground down in a war of attrition and expelled from the NCR. In 2274, an expedition by Elder Elijah of the Mojave chapter to the HELIOS One solar power plant near New Vegas ended in the death of nearly half the chapter and the capture of the plant by the NCR, forcing the Brotherhood into hiding in their bunker in Hidden Valley. The NCR was expelled by Courier Six in his takeover of the Mojave in 2281, opening the Mojave chapter to begin patrols in the wasteland again. As of 2287, the Brotherhood of Steel and NCR are still at war and have begun efforts at recruitment of wastelanders to bolster their numbers. They remain a secretive group and their chances of success are unlikely. Government The Brotherhood of Steel is a strictly regimented, quasi-religious society. * Elders sit at the top of the ranks, leading chapters with their wisdom gained from years of experience rising through every rank (though some elders may be coronated early in reaction to the death of an elder). The High Elder is the most senior and powerful member, usually a directed descendant of Roger Maxson. Elders are almost exclusively promoted from paladins. * Scribes are responsible for researching and transcribing technology to maintain the Brotherhood's knowledge. Outside of rare circumstances where they must be called into the field for research or to provide their expertise, scribes usually remain in the bunkers. * Knights are the military arm of the Brotherhood, equipped with power armor and technologically advanced weaponry. * Paladins are responsible for internal security within the chapter and outside affairs. Initiates to a Brotherhood chapter are trained and expected to show aptitude for either scientific or military skills, determining which branch they apprentice into. Scribes and knights progress through apprentice, journeyman, and senior ranks with the hopes of becoming a Head Scribe or Head Knight. Paladins are promoted from Head Knights and progress through junior, regular, senior, and head ranks. People born into the Brotherhood are not forced to serve and are free to leave, but are threatened with execution if they share any secrets or technology. Society The Brotherhood of Steel believes that only they can maintain the responsibility of using the pre-war technology that eventually led to the Great War. While they may trade some technology in exchange for food or other resources, they keep their most sensitive and advanced technology to themselves and will hunt down and kill any former Brotherhood members who reveal their secrets. Some Brotherhood units have gone so far as to confiscate technology from its owners by force. The Brotherhood has a dislike of ghouls and a virulent hatred of mutants, generally executing all super mutants on sight and attempting to cleanse the Earth of anything originating from FEV. Military The Brotherhood of Steel has the most technologically advanced military outside of the Enclave at its peak. Knights and Paladins are almost always seen with power armor and advanced laser and plasma weaponry, treated at the base with the best medical technology of the post-war world. While the Brotherhood has a smaller military than the NCR or Enclave, individual soldiers are extremely powerful. The Brotherhood has a limited number of Vertibirds and other vehicles; airships are usually sent on long expeditions rather than in a military capacity. They predominately rely on foot soldiers in power armor. Currency The Brotherhood issues its own trade scrip for use within its territory, but will use outside currency like bottle caps when circumstances necessitate. Brotherhood scrip is usually of similar value to caps, but worthless to outsiders.